12 February 2016

The Meralco Bolts finished the 2015-2016 PBA Philippine Cup with a dismal record of 1-10. The players are inconsistent, the plays are erratic and the team as a whole were uninspired. It also marked as Meralco's worst record in franchise history since they joined the league way back in 2010.

Rookies Chris Newsome, Baser Amer, and Joseph Sedurifa showed some flashes of brilliance, but they are still unable to close pressure-packed games. The return of Rabeh Al-Hussaini has notimproved the bench that much, while new recruits Jimmy Alapag, Ronjay Buenafe, Justin Chua and Bryan Faundo ony showed a glimpse of what they have in the past.

The long break has given the Bolts a new hope and a new chance to redeem themselves. With the highly-touted Arinze Onuaku in tow, the Bolts will try to fortify themselves among the top tier teams in the league.

They have the personnel. They have the coach. They have the support of management. What is left is to mold everything into one cohesive and deadly force that moves like a well-oiled machine. No more excuses.

Below is the tentative schedule of the Bolt's games this 2016 Commissioner's Cup:

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PBA Advisory

2017 Commissioner's Cup Format

The tournament allows teams to hire foreign players or imports with a height limit of 6-foot-10.

The top 2 teams will earn twice-to-beat edges over Nos. 7 and 8 while the No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 pairing will be a best-of-three affair in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal stage will have a pair of best-of-five matches and the finals will be a race-to-four affair.

Gilas Pilipinas

Manila will host one of the three tournaments in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Philippine national men’s basketball team will try to pull off massive upsets against France, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and Senegal in the competition slated on July 5 to July 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.

A total of 18 teams will participate in the three-nation event whose champions will book tickets to the 2016 Rio Olympics.